Springfield daily republic. [volume] (Springfield, O. [Ohio]) 1887-1888, 1887-07-16
THE COSTERMONGER.
ONE or The MOST UkCNIlIzeD
OENIZENS OF LONDON.

To the Street and barrow Born-Ths
State the Regulator Of the Cos RS
Family-stowed Away at Nisht-Inves-
tigation.
find the present generation Of London
costers, as a rule, to the manner, or, per-
haps should say, to the street and bar
| row born. Ii is rarely a man thus born,
and who has carried shallow" Ia fiat
basket, or showed barrow from boy
hood, ever gets out Of the business. He
may rise into green grocer, a coal shed,
fried fish shop, or even a bacon and
butter establishment, by dint of great in
dustry, but this is a dizzy eminence which
few costers attain, and of which the ma
jority do not dream. He is indeed fortu-
nate if, after 4 busy life Of almost cease
less toll, he can gaze upon as his own q
faithful diminutive ass, u barrow, a few
baskets. and such other necessary imple-
ments Of trade, together with sufficient
ready cash TO make his daily purchases.
IL to this be added the furniture for one
or two rooms in back court or alley, and
a Sunday suit for himself and best
dress for the old gal, " We have, from
the standpoint OF costermonger, q pic
ture of u thoroughly well to do man, il
not Of Opulence itself
Reliable statistics as to the present
number Of London costermongers are I'M
obtainable, but l am satisfied th-t an es-
timate Of $1,000 adults is below rather
than above the mark. The coster has
long enjoyed the luxury of working his
entire family, including his wife Home
e.. L., -. l..
on the streets and his recreation ground
the corner gin shop. Up long before sun
rise in the morning, he pushes his quaint
little barrow or spurs has stubborn donkey
on to market, and is ready to pick up bar
gains in fish, vegetables, fruits, nuts or
anything else that can be sold again
And then the object is to sell In this
work he presses into service his wife or
female companion, for the majority of
costers waive the marriage ceremony. and
all the children that the school board in
spectors don't snatch Srom him The
average coster's idea of his duty toward
his family is to provide for them on the
lowest scale compatible with keeping in
quiry at a distance, and work them on
the highest The state, TO a large extent,
is the regulator of the cosIer's family.
him to take charge of his offspring. it in
terveBes in his gentle pastime of jumping
on the ''old woman" and it captures the
budding costers, male or female, claps
them, ragged, dirty, uncivilized, into q
board school, and turns them out beau
tiful little scholards." But the state is
"'arsh and harbtrary," he growls, '.and
costers ave no rights in these days of
board schools, street improvements, model
tenement 'Ouses, and the like"
Pardon the digression. 1t is not often
that the stock is closed out. even by the
united efforts Of the family, until long
after dark. There is no evening meal, no
cheerful fire awaiting the nomad Of Lon
don's thousand miles of streets He and
his wife have taken their bread and penny
worth of fried fish, hot from the fish shop
at the top Of the court, and washed it
down with q pint Of three penny at the
neighboring pub. The children have
Tapped up.their meals in the same man
ner, like GideOn's hosts, as they marched
along. And if the night does not end In
gin drinking, fuddled heads, and perhaps
in blows, what are the closing scenes
The whole family tucked away in some
vile cellar or room in what is known as
"Costers district" The barrow covered
with a sack or two, acts as a bed for some
Of the smaller members Of the family
the father and mother, and probably a
daughter and son of IA or Is. all huddled
together in one room, some sleeping on
the floor. Under the bed, If there is on.,
are the vegetables remaining unsoli
Here calmly repose the ''fine fresh water
cre-e-ses," the cherry ripe" fine ripe
plums," the ''inguns," +" of to morrow, ard
not infrequently the .ni-ew mackerel"
and ''all large and alive Or new sprats
Or which the denizens of London are to
relish next day.
II may judge, after reading the volu-
minous testimony before the royal COM
mission on housing the poor, the one thing
that commission did not solve was what
becomes Of the coster's donkey at night
The combined interrogations of the Prince
OF Wales, Lord Salisbury, and Sir Charles
Dixie failed to legally establish where the
coster kept his donkey, his barrow and
his surplus stock, though one cruel wit
ness deposed that water cress was gener-
ally kept under the bed, sprinkled with a
little water and sold next morning as
fresh gathered water cress. The school
inspectors generally declared that the
coster preferred the old haunts, and would
not go TO respectable tenement house If
the opportunity was afforded They can
not mske themselves sociable nor afiiliate
with other people in any way. Few Of
their children attend school, and it was
difficult TO find school to get them into,
as they were 80 ragged and dirty The
habits Of the coster made him a disagree
able neighbor. He deposited his fish and
refuse vegetable matter in the common
dust bin Of the court, hitched his donkey
in the back yard and stored hts unsold
stock in his room. In fact the London
costermonger is the terror Of the pro-
moters Of model tenement houses, and it
is said that he will wreck a new house In
q very short time.-Robert p Porter in
Inter Ocean.